A PROPOSITO DI TRAVESTITISMO NELLA GRECIA ANTICA TRA FORMA RITUALE ED ESCAMOTAGE POLITICO

Abstract

SVMMARIVM - Nonnullis exemplis comprobatur apud Graecos vestis mutationem non solum
in ritu sacrorum, sed etiam rei publicae et militaris causa geri. Incipiendo ab heroica
aetate, in qua spatiorum, officiorum et generum proprietates numquam miscentur, haec investigatio
inquirit qua ratione procedente tempore vestis mutatio expiationis vel superstitionis
vel aetiologiae vel stratagematis vim consecuta sit.

ABSTRACT - This paper aims to investigate examples of disguise in the Greek context which,
reinterpreted in a historical key, highlight the co-presence of ritual elements and political motivations.
The starting point is the mythological and epic heritage expressed through the Homeric
poems where the rigid separation between spaces, roles and gender identity appears crystallized.
This effectively proves the completion of the process of systematization and codification
of the two genres. By rethinking forms and manifestations of disguise in ancient Greece, sources
in the historical age – as well as the mythological tradition – allows us to shed some light on
gender identity and sexual differences.